How To Create A Story Workbook. By Stephanie Morrill

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1 How To Create A Story Workbook By Stephanie Morrill 2016

2 How to Create a Story Workbook I have the best intentions when I start a new novel. This time, I tell myself, I m going to keep track of each character as I write. No more eye colors changing from chapter to chapter, and no more getting to the end of a story and realizing I have three characters named Jack. (Three.) Maybe one of these days, I really will do a good job of keeping track of my story as I write it, but for now that remains a backseat item to be sorted out in edits. That s when I turn to my story workbook and start getting all the details documented in one place. What is a story workbook, and why do I need one? A story workbook is a digital binder (though you could make it with a physical binder too) that helps you keep track of the minutiae of your story. The reason I prefer to make mine a digital binder is that when I m working with an editor, I always send them pieces so they can double check my details. With my story workbook, I track things like my characters and plot, but I also document how many hours I put into a story and what needs to be researched. As I said before, I use most components of my story workbook during edits, but maybe for you it will be part of your brainstorming or first draft. That s the great thing about a tool like this it s yours! Getting Started What s worked best for me is to use plain ol Excel. If you re a Scrivener user, there s probably tools in there you can use (Scrivener and I don t get along great, so I can t help with this) but I like Excel for a couple reasons. One is that if you don t have Microsoft Excel, you can do many of the same thing with Google Sheets. To do that, all you need is a Google account, which is free. Another reason I really like using Excel for my workbook is how easy it is to share the finished product with my editor when the time comes. Using specialty software makes that tricky, but my editor already has Excel. At the end of this tutorial, you ll find links to formatted templates of this spreadsheet that you can download and customize for yourself, but I ll also walk you through how I format mine. When you open up a blank spreadsheet, it can feel overwhelming. The first thing I do is get my font and border preferences set up, because then the spreadsheet starts to feel like it s mine.

3 Start by selecting all (Ctrl+A) to format all your cells. In the picture below, you ll see where to find your font options (I m a Georgia 12 kind of girl, and I like my headers bold and centered) and your borders. I always choose all borders because I like how it looks when I print it, but you may find you prefer something else: The next thing I do is get my Tabs added. At the bottom of your spreadsheet screen, you ll see where it says Sheet1 and a plus sign for adding more sheets.

4 I think of these sheets as my binder tabs, and here are the sections I include in mine: Work log Characters Timeline Backstory Research/To do Locations Acknowledgements If you re a fantasy writer, you might also have tabs for your storyworld, or a timeline of the world s history. Just remember that the workbook is a tool. Writing tools are only helpful to the extent that they serve the story. If it s not helping you get the story written, then it s not a tool you need. Now let s look at what I put in each of my tabs: Work Log The work log is the first sheet in my spreadsheet because it s the one I use the most consistently. Maybe you re not yet at a place where you want to track how much you re writing. I didn t really see a purpose in it until I had firm deadlines, and lots of things in my personal life pulling me away from writing time. (Primarily very cute, lovable things named McKenna, Connor, and Eli.)

5 I grew frustrated that I truly had no idea how long it took me to write my books. Yes, surprises happen along the way, but can you imagine operating another kind of creative business and being mostly clueless about how long it took you to do the creating? Florists are amazing artists, but they still need to have an idea of how much time it takes them to create a bouquet, right? Here are the details I track: Date Time In Time Out Starting Word Count (or if I m editing sometimes I track page numbers because my word count yo-yos) Ending Word Count Calculated Amount Location Notes The above screengrab is pretty self-explanatory, but I ll try and fill in some gaps. Why track location? I mostly write in my office, so I frequently don t, but if you write in a variety of places, this can be helpful. You can look for patterns and see if you maybe work better on the patio than you do in your bedroom, or if having easy access to Wi-Fi makes a difference in your word count. I use the notes column to track any details that may have impacted the data. Like if I have a kid who s home sick, or if I was able to repurpose 1,000 words from an old manuscript, making my word count abnormally high. Two other formatting things I ll mention is that I like to be able to see all my notes and not have them run off the page. I always select Wrap Text to create effects like you see in the notes section, where the text takes up two lines:

Also, as a project wears on, it s helpful to be able to see all my headers even when I scroll. To do that, you need to use the Freeze Panes tool: One last note about this section.

6 Also, as a project wears on, it s helpful to be able to see all my headers even when I scroll. To do that, you need to use the Freeze Panes tool: One last note about this section. At the end of a writing session, jotting down what I accomplished feels like a dorky-but-fun reward. Something that makes novel writing a particularly difficult art form is how long it takes and how many words there are to write and revise. When I keep track in this way, noting my progress feels similar to the satisfaction of crossing an item off a to-do list. Characters This is the piece of the workbook where it would be really helpful if I kept track of details as I worked on my first draft. Again, it tends to be a task I push off until edits, but you could even use it as you re brainstorming your story.

For characters, I find it helpful to track: Hair Eyes Skin General physical description Age/Birthday Personality descriptions In addition to those, I almost always track: Primary Motivator Their role

7 For characters, I find it helpful to track: Hair Eyes Skin General physical description Age/Birthday Personality descriptions In addition to those, I almost always track: Primary Motivator Their role in the main character s story One-word descriptor What others say Let me show you what it looks like, and then we ll discuss some of those in detail: Primary Motivator: What does this character want most and pursue during the story? For my main character in The Lost Girl of Astor Street, she wants to find Lydia. That s what

8 everything comes back to for Piper. But her friend, Walter, is focused on getting a starting spot on his minor league baseball team. Tracking this detail for all my important characters does a couple things: 1. It forces me to think through their motivations, and that s a really important piece of delineating your characters from each other. If they are motivated by different things, it automatically prevents them from sounding the same. 2. It helps me identify opportunities for conflict that I might otherwise miss if they weren t all laid out side-by-side. Piper being focused on finding Lydia and Walter being focused on making the starting rotation may not directly pit them against each other, but it definitely grates on their relationship as the story goes on. Their role in the MC s story: This is where I specify my purpose for having this character in the story. I tend to create too big of casts, so this is something that helps me make sure everyone has a clear purpose for advancing the plot. Like for Walter, one of my purposes for him is that he helps Piper see that growing up is going to happen whether she wants it to or not. One-word descriptor and what other characters would say for their one-word: I ve blogged about this before, so here is a link to that explanation. Basically, if your character described themselves in one word, what would it be? How do they see themselves? And then how do others see them, and what one word would they use? Quirks: I especially try to note body language they use or expressions that are unique to them. Personality descriptors: I mostly use this section to note the main character s observations. It helps me to make sure I m being consistent and that any changes in her feelings toward that character are intentional rather than an oversight. And then, just like with the work log, you ll want set cells to Wrap text for ease of use:

And then under the View option, you ll want to freeze your panes as the document grows: Again, these are the things that I track because it s helpful to me as a writer.

Timeline As I ve transitioned into writing historical mysteries, this has become the most useful tool for me.

9 And then under the View option, you ll want to freeze your panes as the document grows: Again, these are the things that I track because it s helpful to me as a writer. You only want to use the tool to the extent that it s helping you write the story. Timeline As I ve transitioned into writing historical mysteries, this has become the most useful tool for me. I have a lot of information about specific dates and clues, and I need to keep it organized for the story to work. Especially by the time I m on my fourth rewrite, and I can t really remember if my character already knows something or if that was the last draft where she found that out, or Here s what mine looks like:

10 Obviously, you ll be tailoring this to your use, but here s what s worked for me. I usually track three-ish characters in their own columns, and then for other not-as-important characters, I throw their info into that last Others column. If you re telling a story from multiple points of view, you ll probably want a column for at least each POV character. You ll notice in that second row, I have designated a space for before the story opens. Some stories have loads of backstory that I have to keep straight. (More on that when I get to the Backstory tab.) Others don t have a lot, or they just have one or two things that I want to make a note of. The historical details are obviously only useful if you re writing a historical novel. I use this column to keep track of big world things that are taking place outside of the main plot of the story. If you re writing any kind of novel that involves a war going on, this can be a really helpful way to keep track of those important dates alongside the story details. Where it says 1924, you would obviously put whatever year your story is being told in. Or, if your story spans many years, you can put Date. I put the specific year because I didn t want to bother with typing it out every time. Here s a peek at the timeline I made for The Lost Girl of Astor Street so you can see what this looks like in action, and then I ll talk about how I use the character columns: For this story, my main character is Piper. Her column is where I ll track most of the plot. Thus far, most my stories are told from just one point of view, so for me this ends up being where all the big action is. If you have multiple POV characters, that might not be the case. I have found it super important to track what my villain is doing. Because after I sent the original draft of The Lost Girl of Astor Street to my agent, she was like, What is your villain doing while your main character is doing her thing? And I discovered I had huge chunks of

A note about color coding: You ll also notice that a lot of that screen is grayed out. That s because I used this to show myself when something happened off stage.

11 time where my villain was just hanging around. So, it s really important to keep track of your antagonists, even if they re off stage! The Others column is a great way to make sure that clues are getting planted early on, and that you don t have people doing something in town when they were supposedly gone for two weeks, or whatever. A note about color coding: You ll also notice that a lot of that screen is grayed out. That s because I used this to show myself when something happened off stage. Another way I ve used color coding is if I m adding a plot thread. I ll pull up the timeline and start plugging in the actions, but I ll make the cells bright yellow or something. That way it s easy for me to make sure the new stuff is going to jive with the old. You also might have noticed that when I marked the chapters (in the first column) and the dates (in the third column) some of my cells were longer. I did that by merging the cells. To merge cells, select the cells you want to combine, and then select Merge and Center. Afterward, it ll look like this:

Something else you might consider tracking is the weather. Even if this is a fantasy world with your own created weather patterns, it can still be helpful to make notes.

12 Something else you might consider tracking is the weather. Even if this is a fantasy world with your own created weather patterns, it can still be helpful to make notes. I know I m starting to sound like a looped playlist, but don t lose sight of the purpose of the timeline: To help you write your story. While it s a worthwhile investment of time to make your timeline readable and useful (if your editor asks you for anything of this nature, it ll be the timeline and your character details) it s easy to get obsessive about tracking and color coding every detail. Backstory I don t always need to include this tab, but I ve written stories with very tangled backstories that involved different locations and character ages. I have yet to need this timeline to be as detailed as the actual story timeline, so I usually have just these columns: Date Event Location Other Details A separate tab for the backstory can be super helpful for tracking details like a big family history, the development of a technology, or the history of your storyworld. Research/To Do This tab often gets added during the first read-through, but sometimes I keep a running list during the first draft or brainstorming process. I create columns for details I need to research, story questions I m pondering, and things I need to do. For the example, I left in a few from a work-in-progress so you can see:

13 The best part of making a to-do list is, of course, crossing items off. I use the strike-through feature rather than just deleting them because it gives me a greater sense of accomplishment: Locations Your story may not need this tab. When I wrote contemporary fiction, I didn t find it useful, but with historical fiction I do. Anytime I reference an address, or I have a person living in a specific house or neighborhood, I spend a lot of time on Google Maps finding the right place. The sheet I use for tracking these locations is very basic with just two columns. One that says what it is ( Piper s house ) and the other that lists the address. If I can, I also include a link to a picture. Acknowledgements Along the way, people help me with my stories. They give me information I need or encouragement, and I keep a running list so that I can thank them publicly in the back of the book. This is the simplest of all the spreadsheets, with one for the name, and the other for how they helped me. I hope you find the story workbook to be a tool that helps you edit more effectively! Snag your free template download here. If you have problems, please me! Stephanie@StephanieMorrillBooks.com

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